October 11th Response

My favorite aspect of this article was pages 189-191. Although there were great points brought up throughout the article, to portion the authors wrote about reading Savage Inequalities and watching Stand and Deliver in the classroom to compare and contract the attitudes and achievements in similar classroom settings really stood out to me.

It's commonly accepted to say that lower socioeconomic schools produce lower level thinkers than those schools who have more access to higher funds and resources. On the other hand, we've all heard about those rare instances where teachers turn things around and motivate their students to learn at a much higher level, even when faced with poverty. When the author wrote about showing both sides of this spectrum to the class, it got me thinking; why do we as teachers allow ourselves to maintain the mindset that low SES equals low education? We have all of these examples of astounding teachers helping students in terrible situations, yet it's still commonly acceptable to be okay with students "falling through the cracks." The outcome of the lesson in the article clearly shows how much of an attitude shift can occur when showing students the power they have as learners and the impact they can make.

What I loved most about this portion of the article was that the teachers, although they differed in their methods of providing resources, came together to empower their students to excel. They accepted the input from the students, encouraged them to speak up against what they felt was unjust, and saw a change in how things were handled in the school.

Not only was the impact of the teachers amazing, but the initiative of the students was great. I love reading about times when students realize the impact of their voice and pursue change for the better. Reading about the impact a lesson can have on students like this gives me more excitement for this profession.

To touch on another concept I enjoyed from this text, the "Underlying Principles" portion of the article provided several reference points for the remainder of the reading. It helped give definition to some new terms as well as insight on how teachers can work toward the common good without agreeing on much of anything!